Notorious rapist Simon McGinley jailed for alleged breach of Sex Offenders Act after power-wash incident

 • 48m ago

One of Ireland’s most notorious rapists is back in jail again after he allegedly breached the conditions of the Sex Offenders Act.

It has emerged that serial rapist Simon McGinley (39) has been allegedly visiting the homes of elderly women in north Co Dublin in recent times offering to power-wash their homes.

It is alleged that he was engaged in this activity when he was observed by gardaí at the home of a woman aged in her 80s in Skerries last Saturday.

This was in breach of one of the provisions of the Sexual Offender Order that McGinley must comply with namely that he is not to “cold call” to people’s homes.

“What makes this incident so disturbing is that he has a previous conviction for raping a woman who was aged in her 80s, and the belief is that he is very much still a threat to elderly people,” a source told Independent.ie.

It is understood that on Saturday at South Strand Street in Skerries that McGinley called to the pensioner’s home and offered to power-wash the property saying he would accept payment from her later.

He had started to power-wash the house before he was observed by a neighbour who noticed who he was and called gardaí who quickly arrived at the scene.

It is understood that McGinley then left the area and returned to his home in Dundalk, Co Louth, where he was arrested on Sunday and held overnight at the local garda station.

He was then brought to Drogheda District Court where he was charged yesterday under Section 22 of the Sex Offender’s Act 2001.

Evidence was given in court that he had called to the door of an elderly woman in Skerries last Saturday, a breach of a Sexual Offender Order which was made at Dundalk Circuit Court on December 14 last.

McGinley could face a maximum term of five years in jail if convicted under this act.

The notorious convicted double rapist was then remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison and he is due to appear before Dundalk District Court again tomorrow morning.

Sources say that a number of supporters of McGinley were present for the brief court hearing in Drogheda and they were abusive to gardaí at the brief hearing.

McGinley previously appeared in court last November where he was charged with breaching the Sex Offenders Act in a separate case.

The high-risk sex offender was released from jail last September after serving a lengthy sentence for the shocking rape of a pensioner.

The elderly woman had been unfit to give evidence during the trial due to her worsening dementia, but a statement she gave at a previous District Court hearing in October 2008 was read to the jury.

A drunken McGinley had raped her repeatedly during the night and put his hand over her mouth at one point when she cried out.

McGinley’s previous rape of a 13-year-old girl sparked the ‘C Case’ legal battle over whether the girl was allowed to travel to the UK for an abortion.

McGinley was freed from Arbour Hill Prison in September after finishing a 21-year sentence imposed in 2009 for the sexual attack on the 85-year-old woman in Co Monaghan.

A nationwide official alert was issued to gardaí across the country informing them of his release

He was previously sentenced to 12 years in 1998 after pleading guilty to raping the 13-year-old girl in the ‘C Case’ in August 1997.

McGinley was told at his last trial he will be under post-release supervision for 12 years.

When passing sentence in 2009, Justice George Birmingham said the case was one of the worst he had heard considering the age and frailty of the victim.

Then aged 35, McGinley, who had denied the charges, was found guilty of raping the elderly woman on June 16, 2008, after forcing his way into her home.

The woman known as Miss C was also in court that day for the sentence hearing where the daughter of the elderly woman outlined the devastating impact the sex attack had on her mother.

In 2009 ‘Miss C’ spoke to RTÉ radio about the brutal attack by McGinley that left her pregnant and how she was sent to various care homes.

She was caught at the centre of an infamous legal battle over her right to have an abortion when a decision to send her to the UK was opposed by pro-life activists.